Former Cleveland Clinic patient charged with violating his doctor's protection order

CLEVELAND, Ohio - A former Cleveland Clinic cancer patient is accused of violating a five-year civil stalking protection order that prevented him from contacting his Cleveland Clinic surgeon or the doctor's family.

David Antoon, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who lives near Dayton in Beavercreek, was recently indicted in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court for menacing by stalking, telecommunications harassment and violating a protection order. He posted bond Jan. 3.

The charges stemmed from an incident in November in which Antoon allegedly "did knowingly post a text or audio statement or an image on an Internet website or webpage for the purpose of abusing, threatening or harassing another person," according to the indictment. Antoon is charged with posting content on the Internet that could knowingly cause "physical harm" or "mental distress" to Dr. Jihad Kaouk, a urologist at the Clinic, according to the indictment.

After a pretrial hearing Tuesday, Antoon's counsel Donald Malarcik said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges. The next court date is set for Feb. 15 before Common Pleas Judge Peter J. Corrigan, according to Malarcik.

Malarcik called the charges "absurd" and a violation of Antoon's First Amendment rights.

"It's always dangerous to speak power to those in authority," Malarcik said.

County prosecutors brought the charges against Antoon, but couldn't be reached for comment. The attorney for Kaouk was not listed on court documents and therefore could not be reached for comment.

At issue is a Yelp review about Kaouk that Antoon posted online Nov. 18, the defense attorney said. The review urged others not to visit Kaouk and detailed Antoon's experiences with the doctor.

Malarcik says that the Yelp review doesn't violate the protection order because Antoon did not make direct contact with Kaouk.

Common Pleas Judge Robert C. McClelland on Nov. 17 granted Kaouk a five-year civil stalking protection order against Antoon for a series of emails Antoon sent over the summer to Kaouk's work email address that contained links to articles about research fraud and medical malpractice and that "Antoon knew would cause Kaouk mental distress," according to McClelland's November ruling.

The doctor's defense at that time claimed the emails were threatening in tone because they mentioned the death and punishment of doctors and showed an escalation in Antoon's dealings with the physician.

In his ruling, McClelland said the order only prohibits Antoon from contacting Kaouk and his family, not from posting about the doctor online.

"These are real fears, not some imagined or manufactured presentation to attempt to stop Antoon from posting negative comments about him. This order will not prevent that, and the parties would need to proceed with other civil proceedings on those issues," the ruling said.

"It's our contention that posting a Yelp review is not direct contact and is in fact specifically permitted under Judge McClelland's order," Malarcik said.

Antoon, who has filed malpractice lawsuits against Kaouk and the Clinic after a 2008 prostate surgery left him impotent and incontinent, has become a patient advocate, frequently speaking out about his experience publicly and posting negative reviews about Kaouk on various Internet sites.

A spokesperson for the Clinic said the system is not a party in the case and declines comment.